Obama approval drops below 40% for first time

Gallup daily tracking poll has the president below 40% - but only for one three day rolling average. We'll see how it plays out over the next week and see if that number is confirmed in subsequent pollings.

President Obama's summer woes have dragged his approval rating to an all-time low, sinking below 40% for the first time in Gallup's daily tracking poll.

New data posted Sunday shows that 39% of Americans approve of Obama's job performance, while 54% disapprove. Both are the worst numbers of his presidency.

Obama's approval rating has hovered in the 40% range for much of 2011, peaking at 53% in the weeks following the death of Osama bin Laden.

But Americans' view of his job performance continued to tick downward as the debt-ceiling debate heated up. By the time he signed legislation averting a federal default, he was mired in the low-40% range.

Lately, some of the economic numbers have been ticking slightly upward. And some of that low approval rating is from liberals - many of whom could be expected to hold their nose and vote for Obama anyway.

In short, don't expect the president's approval ratings to remain below 40% for long. The low 40's seems to be his base of support as evidenced by where his numbers have been most of this year. That still makes him very beatable in 2012.

Gallup daily tracking poll has the president below 40% - but only for one three day rolling average. We'll see how it plays out over the next week and see if that number is confirmed in subsequent pollings.

President Obama's summer woes have dragged his approval rating to an all-time low, sinking below 40% for the first time in Gallup's daily tracking poll.

New data posted Sunday shows that 39% of Americans approve of Obama's job performance, while 54% disapprove. Both are the worst numbers of his presidency.

Obama's approval rating has hovered in the 40% range for much of 2011, peaking at 53% in the weeks following the death of Osama bin Laden.

But Americans' view of his job performance continued to tick downward as the debt-ceiling debate heated up. By the time he signed legislation averting a federal default, he was mired in the low-40% range.

Lately, some of the economic numbers have been ticking slightly upward. And some of that low approval rating is from liberals - many of whom could be expected to hold their nose and vote for Obama anyway.

In short, don't expect the president's approval ratings to remain below 40% for long. The low 40's seems to be his base of support as evidenced by where his numbers have been most of this year. That still makes him very beatable in 2012.